The Foxfield Colliery was situated in the Cheadle Coalfield of North Staffordshire. Originally, transport of coal from the colliery was by packhorse and tramway. A production increased thoughts turned to the provision of better transport. Up to that time every scheme to build a railway to Cheadle had failed, the owners of the colliery decided that they had to take matters into their own hands.
The Foxfield Railway was built in 1892-1893 to provide a link to the national railway network for the Foxfield Colliery, on the Stoke-Derby main line. The railway itself was built by local labour provided by the North Staffordshire Railway employees at weekends and supervised by the NSR (North Staffordshire Railway) foreman plate layer Noah Stanier. The railway was built with second hand material from the NSR.
In order to keep the cost of the railway to a minimum there are almost no earthworks on the railway, the only notable ones being a cutting, dug through rock and a road over Rail Bridge . The total cost to build the railway was £3000. The lack of earthworks have resulted in a railway with huge gradients, running as steep as 1:19 in places and the steepest adhesion worked standard gauge line in Britain.
The railway, once built, led a quiet but productive life until the eventual closure of the colliery by the NCB (National Coal Board) in August 1965.

Welcome to Hardwick, whose stunning houses and beautiful landscape have been created by a cast of thousands.
It was the formidable Bess of Hardwick who first created Hardwick in the late 1500s, but it was Robert Symthson who designed this magnificent house. The new Hall was designed deliberately to symbolise Bess' wealth and status and pushed the boundaries of architectural design.
In 2014, we mark the 400th anniversary of Robert Smythson with a series of celebrations, including pop up workshops, tours and talks, where you will discover what influenced Smythson's work and the story behind the stone.
Explore Smythson's fascination for symmetry and ingenious planning with themed events from 'have a go' stone carving and a parkland sculpture trail, to an outdoor exhibition of new contemporary artworks, presented by Meadow Arts and inspired by The Men who built Hardwick'.
Hardwick offers visitors a year round experience, from colourful herbaceous borders and prize winning vegetables that are used in the restaurant to the picturesque circular parkland walks and plenty of family friendly activities.